My Hero
by Aiyh-Sa
Summary: My version of how Zam and Jango met.


Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. But I want to!! :(  
  
Okay, this is an AU fic, because I know that this isn't how Zam and Jango met, or what happened between them.(unless I'm extremely lucky!) Anyway, if this isn't accurate, don't worry, it's supposed to be that way. So enjoy the fic, and r&r please!  
  
"Come on, move it!"  
  
"Yes, master."  
  
"And look like you're actually worth something, or I'll never get you sold!"  
  
"Yes, master."  
  
"And stop dragging your feet! Get a move on!"  
  
"Yes, master."  
  
A young slave girl followed her master through the bustling market of Tatooine, sand blowing in her cold, emotionless face. The shackles around her slender ankles dragged in the sand, slowing her down, and the chains rubbed harshly against her bare feet. Bobbed brown hair framed her pale, thin face, and torn rags had been wrapped around her slender frame in an effort to mimic clothes, a luxury that her master had not provided. Her face was expressionless, emotionless; a reflection of her hard life. Over the years, she had learnt that emotions were a weakness. She was punished for her emotions, so now, at 16 years of age, her heart was mere stone, an ice block which no one could thaw.  
  
Well, almost no one.  
  
"Step right up and see the most efficient slave on Tatooine!" Her master bellowed, holding the chain around her neck tightly to ensure that she didn't escape. He was a tall, stocky man, with a thick black beard and a bald head, and large, painful fists. Now however, his hands weren't beating the slave girl, but pointing at her and waving people over to him. "come on now, don't be shy!" he called out, and Zam sighed. Life just couldn't get worse, and it definitely wasn't going to get better.  
  
Passer-bys whispered to one another and watched quietly as a single man walked idly through the crowds, his mandalorian armour glinting in the sun. Jango Fett glanced at the different stalls, before coming to a stop in the slave-trading square.  
  
"Disgusting," he said to himself, surveying the different slaves, chained up and devoid of all hope. Even he, the legendary cold-hearted bounty hunter, couldn't bear to see living people used like cattle. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, squinting in the hot sun. As he peered around the square, he saw a man beating his slave girl. Jango clenched his hands into tight fists, shaking with anger. He couldn't stand that sort of thing happening, and was determined to put a stop to it.  
  
"I'm sorry!!" Zam cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to deflect the hard blows from her master. She had accidentally broken some of his merchandise when she collapsed from the heat and from having to stand up for so long, and he wouldn't forgive her for it. She knew that, and knew that trying to resist would only make things worse, but something deep inside her told her to hold on, to wait just a little longer and she would be safe. She shook those thoughts quickly out of her head, knowing that they were useless and false. No help would come, she told herself. No one cares about a slave girl.  
  
"Excuse me, sir," Zam's master looked up, to see a dark skinned man standing in front of him. He was wearing armour, and his hand clutched the blaster at his side lightly. The man looked down at Zam, then continued. "What has that girl done wrong?" Zam's master glared at Zam, then sneered at Jango.  
  
"The name's Mac Zeifer, and this slave here has just broken some of my most expensive merchandise. She knows that it was wrong, but she did it anyway, so she was punished for it. Who the hell are you anyway?" Jango smirked.  
  
"I'm Jango. Jango Fett." He grinned as Mac backed away slowly, before lunging forward and grabbing him by the collar. Mac gulped as he stared into the eyes of the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy. Jango leered at Mac, studying him as if deciding the most painful way to kill him. When he spoke, his voice was little more than a cold whisper.  
  
"You think you can just go beating people up, huh? I saw everything that happened, she couldn't help it. So either you leave this girl alone, or I kill you. Your decision." Jango slowly released Mac from his grip, who rubbed his throat before smiling awkwardly at Jango.  
  
"Listen," he said, sweating slightly. "Zam's my slave, so it's up to me how I treat her. If you want her to be treated any differently, you'll just have to buy her off me." Jango considered this for a moment, before reaching for his blaster and aiming it at Mac's head.  
  
"So, you've chosen death then," he snarled, and Mac gulped again. He eyed Jango nervously, before sighing.  
  
"Fine, take her for free. She's not worth much anyway." Jango placed the gun back in the holster, and took the chain from Mac's hand before shooting him in the chest. Everyone else in the marketplace ran away screaming as Jango smirked down at Mac, who was on the floor, clutching at his stomach.  
  
"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you," he laughed coldly. "There's a bounty on your head for unlicensed slave trading, dead only." Mac looked up at Jango and his slave one last time before Jango shot him in the head, finishing him off. He turned to Zam, who watched him with wide eyes. She glanced down at the body of Mac, before looking back up at Jango, who walked up to her. She stepped quickly backwards, her heart beating loudly in her ears. She had heard of Jango Fett before, but never thought she would ever come face to face with the man himself. Now he was standing in front of her, and there was no escape, because he was still holding the chain around her neck. Yet something inside her told her that there would be no need to run. There was no bounty placed on her head, and somehow she doubted that this man would kill unnecessarily. But still, she couldn't be sure that his was the case. She shrunk back away from Jango, who held up his hands, showing that he meant no harm.  
  
"Take it easy," he said, letting the chain drop out of his hand to the floor. "I'm not going to hurt you, I only killed that guy because I had to. You're free now, so get out of here." He moved closer, but Zam backed away again, whimpering in fear. This time Jango didn't try to get near her again, but simply studied her features, finally feeling that he understood her somehow. Her face showed fear and anger, but it also revealed something deeper, something more serious than that. Those beautiful green eyes of hers; they had seen too much torture and oppression, and a childhood that had ended much too soon. They hinted loneliness, and a loss of all hope and trust, and pride. This girl had nothing left in the galaxy; nothing except him. He understood now. This girl needed him. She had been a slave for too long, and she depended on others, as she had been taught. He reached into his pocket, and handed her a lock pick and business card.  
  
"Here," he said, smiling. "Free yourself, and if you need any help, you know where to find me." With that he left, Zam watching him walk away. She looked down at the business card, and began unlocking her shackles. Jango had killed her master, and he alone had told her to free herself, which meant...  
  
A few weeks later, Jango sat in his apartment on Kamino, trying to fix his favourite blaster. It had been damaged on his latest mission, and it was a hard-to-get model, so the chances of getting another one of that kind were slim. As he fumbled about with his screwdriver, he heard a knock on the door. Sighing, he put down his tools and opened the door. Taun We stood in the doorway, someone behind her. She smiled at Jango in her usual polite way.  
  
"I have someone here to see you, Jango," she said, and Jango nodded.  
  
"Sure, I'll see 'em," he replied, and Taun We moved aside, allowing the visitor to walk in. Jango drew in a breath as he saw his visitor. It was Zam. She was looking thinner than usual, and her rags were torn and dirty. She stood in silence in front of Jango, who sighed.  
  
"What's up?" he asked, hoping that she hadn't been caught and taken as a slave again. She looked in his eyes, and again he saw reflections of her sorrow and misery, and her hatred of the world. However, when he looked this time, he saw a faint flicker of something else, the slightest hint of something other than the torture that was her life.  
  
He saw trust.  
  
"I came to you because I had nowhere else to go," she explained, still standing by the doorway. Jango walked further into his apartment and sat down, and Zam followed him. She sat down next to him, and continued. "I have no money, no food, and I've been a slave all my life. I've never had freedom before, and I don't think I can cope with it just yet. I need a master, and you're the only person I can trust." Jango frowned, and looked up at her, but his face softened when he saw the look in her eyes. She really did have nowhere else to go. She had put her trust in him, even after he killed her master, and he knew that if he just abandoned her, he would never forgive himself. He smiled.  
  
"Listen," he said, putting a reassuring hand on her arm, "I don't agree with people being used as slaves, so I can't be your master, but I will let you stay with me as a free individual if you like, until you can fend for yourself and get a place to stay, and a job. Would you like that?" Zam nodded, and smiled for the first time in years, tears of joy running down her cheeks. She was wrong about one thing; her life was going to get better after all. 


End file.
